Instructions for use
Select an object to view from the list below. To rotate either click on the rotate icon located in the bottom right hand corner of the image or click and drag within the object window.
Section of Dover to Calais cable, 1851
Radio coherer-detector, c. 1901
Cable code key
Globe Ashtray
Crystal Detector
Baby Turtle
Grapnel
Wheatstone auto-transmitter, late 19th century
Section of deep sea cable
Part of an early crystal set. The detector changes the radio wave into sound by changing the vibration of radio waves into a one-way sound signal. Crystals such as galena and pyrite were used as detectors when radio first started. A crystal radio gets all of its power from the radio wave itself so does not need batteries or wires.